Newspaper folding



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l,

R. wf WATERS. NEWSPAPER FOLDING, WRIAPPING, AND ADDRESSING MACHINE. No.264,380. Patented Sept. 12, 1882.

Wiinesse Inventor.

2 t e e h 8 t e e h s 4 S R B T A W W R M. d o M o W NEWSPAPER FOLDING,WRAPPING, AND ADDRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 12, 1882.

Invntor;

'iimw mines c/M W2 N. PETERS. Phola Lvlhogr-aphcr. Washing'nn. n. c.

' No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3Q R. W. WATERS.

NEWSPAPER FOLDING, WRAPPING, AND ADDRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 12, 1882..

Inventori- 97297215; i W- fl/ N. PETERS, Plwlo-Lullwgmp'lhor. Wulunglon.D. C,

(No Model.) 4'Sheets-Sheet 4.

R. W. WATERS. NEWSPAPER FOLDING, WRAPPING, AND ADDRESSING MACHINE. No.264,380. Patented 861113.12, 1882 Fig.9

Witnesses: I 7' I Invntm": yam mm QMVxW QL I NV PETERS Fholo-Lnlwgmpher.Wnshmglon. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

REUEL W. WATERS, F NEWTON CENTRE, MASSACHUSETTS.

NEWSPAPER FOLDING, WRAPPI NG, AND ADDRESSING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 264,380, datedSeptember 12, 1882.

Application filed January 11, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUEL W. WATERS, of Newton Centre, Middlesex county,Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inNewspaper Folding, Wrapping, and Addressing Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of folding and wrapping machineswhich is designed to aid in the rapid delivery of newspapers andperiodicals with the object of lessening, as far as possible, theinterval of time consumed between going to pressand delivery to themail; and the points of novelty consist in the means by which I havecarried this out, all as will now be more fully set out and explained.

The mechanism by which I accomplish these results is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan. Fig. 2 is aside elevation. Fig. 3 is a linear section. Fig. 4is a cross-sectionshowing the jaws of the carrierwheel. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 aredetails of the different positions of the sealing mechanism. Fig. 10shows the paper after folding and wrapping, but before sealing. Fig. 11

shows the sealed package.

The same letters indicate similar parts in the different drawings.

Arrows indicate the direction in which the difi'erent belts and rollersmove. All the gears and rollers turn on shafts journaled in theframe-work when not otherwise specified.

A is the frame or tablewhich supports the moving parts of the machine.

B is the driving-pulley on the shaft a, and is connected by belts with asource of power. (Not shown.) At the other end of this shaft is thedriving-gear -O, rigidly attached to the shaft, and from it motion isimparted to the other parts of the machine by gears and crankrods, ashereinafter explained.

(1" is a large gear situated below the driving-gear O and turned by it.

C G G O constitute a train of gears by which motion is conveyed from themain shaft a to the mechanism for folding the paper, as

hereinafter explained.

G 0" (J (l O constitute a train, by means of which motion is conveyed tothe mechanism for feeding the wrapping-web, as hereniafter explained.

G is a gear-wheel meshing with the gear 0, and by means of crank-rodscommunicates motion to the addressing mechanism,

G is a gear which meshes with G, and by means of pulleys and a beltcommunicates motion to the tank mechanism, where the paste for sealingthe package is stored.

D D are pressure-rollers for catching the paper and drawing it away fromthe foldingblade as it makes the first fold. D is connected with theroller D by an endless belt, I), which, together with endless belt bconnectin g D with the roller D feeds the paper along toward the secondfolding device. These rollers D and D are placed upon the same shafts asthe gears G U, and are turned with them. The paper is fed along thebed-plate I) under the folding-blade by the feeding-nippers c, which areof ordinary construction, being opened by means of a pitman andcrank-rod and the spur c, as hereinafter explained, and closed by aspring.

D D are pressurerollers, which co-operate with the second folding-bladeand draw the paper and wrapper web, as hereinafter explained, downbetween them, and drop the package thus made into the jaws E E E E E'ot' the carrier-wheel G below. This carrier-wheel turns on the shaftto. These jaws E E, &c., move in a cam-path, G, as hereinafterexplained.

F F are the folding devices, and consist of upright sliding armscarrying a folding-blade, F F, and operated bythe levers H H, with whichsaid arms are connected. The lever H is pivoted at d and the lever H atd. Each lever carries a pin, 0 c, and motion up and down is imparted tothese levers, and through them to the sliding upright arms andfoldingblades by the pins 0 0, being forced-to follow the irregulartrack or cam-path f, upon the surface of the wheel I. This wheel I isfastened upon the same shaft as the gear 0 and therefore is turned withit, as before described. As shown in Fig. 3, the folding-blades are intheir up position. When the wheel I, in its revolution, forces the pin 0into its highest position, which will obviously be when that part of thecam-path nearest the edge of the wheel comes uppermost, the pin end ofthe lever H is raised, the other end lowered, and with it thefoldingblade F, which folds the paper and forces it down between therollers D D, where it is caught between the two belts before describedand carried along until it is discharged from between the rollers D Dand falls in a flat and smooth condition over the guides D D When thepin 0 upon the lever H occupies its highest position, as shown in thedrawings, Fig. 3, the folding-blade F being up, it is obvious that assoon as the dead or circular part of the cam-path passes the pin it isdepressed by the irregular or active part of the path, and with it thelever El, thus drawing down the folding-blade F and forcing the paper tofold a second time and pass between the rollers D D into the jaw E, asbefore explained. The pins 0 e are a quarter-revolution of the wheel Idistant from each other, and somewhat more than half the motion of thecam-path is whatis called dead or lost motion, it being drawn on anarcconcentric with the wheel I, so that no effect is produced upon thepins. It is evident that when the pins are arranged as shown in thedrawings the cam-path will not begin to act upon 0 until the pin 6begins to fall and the foldingblade F to rise. This arrangement allowstime for the folding-blade F to rise out of the way before the paperwhich is being fed by the belts b 1) falls under it. In this way onepaper is being folded at F, another at F, while a third is being fedfrom F to F by the belts I) W. The guard g is used to prevent the paper,as it comes from between D D passing out of line or being thrown toofar, which would cause it to fall badly under the folding-blade.

The machine, as shown in the drawings, is designed to receive the paperswhen folded into an eighth of their full size, which is the state inwhich they are generally delivered to carriers and newsboys; but it isobvious that the papers may readily be received and folded in this wayat an earlier stage of the folding process, if desired. This depends, asbefore explained, upon the quickness with which the edit-ion must beprinted. When my machine is thus made to do the whole work of folding itmaybe used advantageously at agencies, where the papers are receivedfrom various sources in an unfolded condition.

J is a roll of wrapping-web wound upon the shaft M, which turnsinstandards h h, attached to the frame. This web is fed along by therollers D D D D D as indicated by the arrows, to the blade F and therereceives a paper from D D as before described, and is folded with itdown between the rollers D D the tension in folding being enough tosever the wrapper-length, already partly out by the perforating-knife 1*upon the roller I) and working in a groove on roller D K is a roll ofprinted labels or addresses wound upon a shaft, to, turning in the standee41,aso

ards Mk fastened to the frame. This labelroll is fed down between therollers D D, under the knife-blade F which drops and cuts off an addressat the proper time by mechanism hereinafter explained. The roller Dturns in a paste-tank, L, and pastes the under side of the addresses asthey are fed along. Motion is communicated to this roller D from D bymeans of interlocking gears (J C, fastened upon the other ends of therollershafts, and motion is imparted to the roller D and the knife-bladefrom the gear (3 by means of a system of crank-rods, levers, andeccentric arms. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

The gear 0 is provided with an eccentric arm, 2', to which is fastenedone end of the crank-rod j, the other end being attached at k to one armof the elbow-lever Z. This lever is pivoted to the frame-work at and toits other arm is fastened the crank-rod j, the other end of which ispivoted at 70 t0 the lever j hung loosely upon the shaft of D It is tothe free end of this lever j that the knife-blade F is fastened. [t isobvious that every ontward throw of the eccentric i and crank-rod j willimpart an upward throw to the crank-rod j, and by depressing the innerend of the le verj will depress the knife-blade F upon a knife-edgeunder the label-roll, and thus cut off an address and press it upon thewrappingweb, which is fed under it. A spring, at, holds the knife-bladeF firmly in position. This lever j also carries a pawl,n, which engagesthe teeth of a ratchet-wheel, O fastened rigidly upon the shaft a, whichcarries the roller 1). This pawl is held against the teeth by a smallspring. The motion of this lever 7' is adjusted with reference to thelength of wrapper required, and in the case of papers requiring aseven-inch wrapper (the size for which the machine shown is arranged)will cut off one address for every seven inches of wrapper which passesunder the knife-blade F. To avoid the inconvenience of having thelabelroll fed constantly, which would cause the roll to be fed onto thetop of the knife-blade F by not allowing the latter time to rise out ofthe way, I give a motion to the pawl 12. nearly equal to two teeth ofthe ratchet-wheel, and thus secure the desired lost motion, the feedingbeing intermittent. The tension of the rolls J. and K is thrown off bylifting the handles 0 0 and weights 1) p. The same gear-wheel O and rodjare used to impart motion to the feedingnippers 0, before referred to,through the crank-rod M, pivoted at k, and the pitman M. All themechanism heretofore described as dependent for its motion upon the'drivinggear (J is so speeded by the teeth in the respective gear thatone revolution of G will cause one operation of each distinct mechanism.

The carrier G is hung upon the shaft to of the gear 0, and consists oftwo disks and a set ofjaws, E E, &c., which lie between the disks andare hung loosely upon the arbors q g, which run from disk to disk. Thejaws are carried round by the disks and are made to open and shut atcertain, times during their.

revolution by an arm, N, attached to the longer tooth of the jaw, theother end of the arm being forced to follow the cam-path G. (Shown indotted lines in Fig. 3.) A spring,m ,isprovided to throw the jaws openwhenever this cam-path allows it to be done. The extent to which thejaws may be opened is limited by a joint or clutch in the arbors q q,upon which they are hung. The stop 0 is fastened to the carrier-disk ata short distance from the jaws, and at the proper time closes them, ashereinafter explained. It is evident that as long as the arm N followsthe lower or rounded part of the cam-path G the relative positions ofthe teeth and the stop will remain asshown;

but when the upper or flattened part of the.

path is reached the motion ot'thejaw relatively to the stop isretardedand the stop is allowed to approach, as shown in the upper jaw in Fig.3. This stoppage of the jaw is of course only relative to the foldingmechanism above it, as the arbor g, on which the jaw turns, continues tomove with the carrier-disk, and the only real change is one in the angleof the jaw from the center of the disk, caused by the movement of thearm N in the cam-path G of the stationary disk. (Shown in dotted linesin Fig. 3.) This stopping is long enough to allow a folded paper andwrapper to fall into the.

jaw and be carried on by it. The appearance of the package at this timeis shown in Fig. 10. As the disk moves on the motion of the arm in thecam-path is still further retarded until the stop overtakes the jaw andcompresses the paper between the teeth, as shown in thejaw E, Fig. 3,and in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9; The paper and wrapper are then sealed andpressed by the mechanism adapted for that purpose, as hereinafterexplained. The

cam-path now rounds out again, and the jaw,

released from the'pressure on the arm N, rapidly falls away from thestop, until at E it has regained its normal distance from the stop, andas the jaw is now pointed downward the sealed package is dropped throughthe funnel P into the receiving-box Q, Fig. 2. This funnel is ofordinary construction, inclined in any desired direction, and supportedby braces 1' 1", attached to the frame.

The sealing mechanism, before referred to, consists of a paste-tank, L,fastened upon the frame-work by the bearing s, and in this tank thepaste-roller D is turned by a belt passing over the roller D on theshaft of gear G, as before stated. This shaft also carries a loose arm,i, held in place by a spring, and carryinga roller, R, turned by abeltfrom the shaft, and serving, as hereinafter explained, to press downthe flap of the package upon the glued surface of the wrapper. Paste istaken from the roller D by a cam, S, on the shaft of 0 This cam is armedwith a brush, 8, which in in its rotation alternately brushes thesurface of D and of the wrapper, and thus prepares the latter forsealing. The guard 9' turns down the flap of the paper to present ahorizontal surface to the sealing-roller R. The operation of sealing andfastening will be more easily understood from the detail-figures 5, 6,7,8, and 9.

Fig. 5 shows the jaw ready to receive the paper T from the rollers D 1)?Thispaper, when dropped into the jaw, has the wrapperflap f extendingbeyond the edge of the carrier-disk, as shown in Fig. 6. When the jawreaches the position in Fig. 6 the cam S, having received a charge ofpaste from the roller when the cam was in the position shown in dottedlines, passes over the surface of the wrapper upon which the flap is tobe folded, and thejaw, moving on, passes out of reach of the cam. Whenit reaches the guard g the flap is turned down, as shown inFig. 7.

Fig. 8 shows the flap just leaving the guard g andcoming under-controlof the sealingroller B. This roller both presses the flap back upon thepasted surface of the wrapper and holds it there with aconstantly-diminishing pressure as the jaw moves away from it. Theturning of the roller R upon its axis, the yielding of the spring,before referred to as acting upon the arm 71, and the rapid moving awayof the jaw effectually prevent the flap being pulled off before thepaste has taken effect.

U isan elevator by which the papers are brought into a position to beseized by the feeding-nippers and drawn into the machine. This elevatorconsists of an upright covered box with a sliding platform, t, on whichthe papers are'placed. This platform is moved upwardly as the papers aredrawn off from the top by means of cords passing over the pulleys t t,the other ends being attached to the wheel W. This wheel turns on ashaft in the frame-work, and is provided with handles, to allow theelevator-platform to be turned back when it is to be refilled withpapers. To insure the uniform delivery of the papers to thefeeding-nippers until the supply is exhausted this elevator is providedwith a counter-balance, V, of ordinary construction, for turning thewheel W, and so arranged that as the number of papers grows smaller theweight engaged in raising the platform t diminishes. The wheel X isprovided to preserve the proper tension of the cords upon the pulleys. Ihave found this elevator-box and counter-balance a convenient way ofaccomplishing the desired result; but it i is obvious that other methodsmay be employed, if desired,and I do not confine myself to this form ofmechanism.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The elevator-box is filledwith papers and the machine is started. The feeding-nippers c are thrownforward to catch the topmost paper and draw it under the folding-bladeF, which is pulled down by the lever H and produces a fold in the paperand forces it between the 4 eeaase rollers D D upon the belt I). Thepaper thus I folded is carried along upon this belt and discharged frombetween D D upon the wrapper-web, which has been previously addressed atthe knife F and fed along by the rollers D l) D D 850., under thefolding-blade F This blade is now dropped by the lever H and folds bothpaper and wrapper, as shown in Fig. 10, and presses the folded edgebetween the rollers 1) D These rollers feed the package thus made intothe jaw E, by. which it is carried to the cam-brush s and there glued.The flap is then turned back by the guard g and folded upon the gluedwrapper by the roller R, which holds it a short time pressed againstthis glued surface. When released by this roller the sealed package isdropped through the funnel P into'the box Q, ready for delivery. Asbefore stated, every revolution of the gear G causes one paper to befolded at F another fed from F to B, another with wrapper to be foldedat F, the proper length of wrapper to be fed along under F an address tobe cut off and glued to the wrapper at F, a third paper to be sealed,and another to be dropped into the box Q. It is obvious that theaddressing mechanism may be omitted if unnecessary from the smallness ofthe circulation or other reasons.

I claim 1. An automatic folding and wrapping ma chine, consisting of aseries of folding devices consisting of foldin g-blades F F andpressurerollers D, 1), D D D", and D the mechanism for feeding thewrapper-web to the last of said folding devices, a carrier-wheel, Gr,provided with automatic jaws E E E E I) to hold in a position fixedrelatively to each other the paper and wrapper and carry them to themechanism, substantially as described, for sealing said papers, allarranged to receive a paper in an unfolded or partly-folded state. andpass it successively th rough the process of folding, wrapping, andsealing, as herein shown and described.

2. In an automatic folding and wrapping machine, as described, alabeling and pasting device for addressing the wrapper, combined withmechanism, substantially as described, for applying the wrapper to thepaper or periodical, sealing the same and delivering it in a suitablecondition for the mail, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for folding and wrapping papers for the mail, thecombination of the following elements, viz: the mechanism to feedautomatically and singly each paper to the folding mechanism, thefolding mechanism, the mechanism for preparing the wrapper and placingthe paper on the wrapper, the mechanism for associating the paper andwrapper, the mechanism for holding the wrapper and paper in a positionfixed relatively to each other, and the mechanism for pasting andsealing the package, all substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the carrier-wheel G, provided with stops 0, theindependent holding-jaws, operated by an arm moving in a cam'path, and aspring, whereby the paper or periodical is seized and held in a fixedposition while the wrapper is being pasted and released at the propermoment, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with presser-rollers and a folding-blade giving thefinal fold to the paper when placed upon the wrapper, perforatingmechanism, substantially as described, and a roller, whereby the wrapperis not only separated from the web, but tightened into proper positionabout the paper, substantially as set forth.

REUEL W. WATERS.

